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More St. Vrain Valley School District libraries adopting Buchter Classification System

Mead Middle School becomes first secondary school with new organization plan

By Victoria A.F. CamronLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
03/24/2013 08:19:31 PM MDT

Updated:
03/25/2013 02:59:45 PM MDT

On the first day they saw the newly reorganized fiction section of their school library, a group of Mead Middle School sixth-graders was impressed.

"It's easier to find stuff," said Miles Dixon, who lives in Longmont. When he wants a mystery book, he can just go to the section, instead of having to look up an author in the computerized catalog, then search an entire alphabetized-by-author fiction section.

"So far, it's pretty nicely set up," he said.

On March 7, Mead Middle School become the St. Vrain Valley School District's first secondary school to switch from the Dewey Decimal System to the Buchter Classification System, designed by the St. Vrain Valley School District's district librarian, Holli Buchter. The district copyrighted the system last summer; so far, no other district has licensed the system.

Under Buchter's system, fiction books are sorted by genre, while nonfiction books are organized by topic. For example, books on space would be gathered together and organized by title instead of spread out with planets and asteroids in Dewey Decimal System section 523; history in 520; exploration in 919; spacecraft in 629; disasters in 363; and experiments in 507.

"It makes more sense for today's students, who are used to keyword searching," Buchter said.

At Mead Middle, only the fiction books -- all 5,000 of them -- have been reorganized; work on the nonfiction section is under way, but the books have not been moved yet.

Emma Robertson, a Mead Middle School student who lives in Firestone, also likes that the library's fiction books are organized by genre instead of just the author's last name.

"Some books, you don't know the author."

Sherri Platt, the librarian at Mead Middle School, said the new classification system helps students find books that fit their interests.

"I've always thought this was the way to go," Platt said. "The Dewey Decimal System never made sense to me. The whole goal is to get books in the kids' hands."

And that, it seems to be doing.

Sixth graders Dana Garcia, left, and Emma Robertson look over a book in Mead Middle School's library on March 7, the day the newly reorganized fiction section was unveiled for students. Under the Buchter Classification System, which more St. Vrain schools are adopting, fiction books are sorted by genre, then author.
(
LEWIS GEYER
)

Before Red Hawk Elementary School -- the first to use the Buchter Classification System -- opened in August 2011, Buchter began tracking what books students at Erie Elementary and Black Rock Elementary students checked out.

The fifth-graders from all three schools are now in sixth grade at Erie Middle School, where the Dewey Decimal System is still in place. There, Red Hawk students continue to check out more books than their classmates who attended Erie or Black Rock elementary schools, according to Buchter's data.

Buchter Classification System results

More books checked out

Former Red Hawk Elementary School students have checked out more books than their classmates this year at Erie Middle School.

Black Rock: 5.4 books per student

Erie Elementary: 4.2 books per student

Red Hawk: 6.5 books per student

More nonfiction books read

Former Red Hawk Elementary School students check out more nonfiction books than their classmates this year at Erie Middle School.

Penny Monroe, librarian at Erie Middle School, said former Red Hawk students don't seem to have any trouble navigating the Dewey Decimal System there.

"I see them reading more nonfiction. I think they know how to go look for it," Monroe said, an observation supported by Buchter's data.

Erie Elementary School principal Amanda Sauer said that students need to read more nonfiction to become better readers.

Program expanding throughout SVVSD

Red Hawk Elementary opened with the new library model, but several schools are converting to it.

Erie and Black Rock elementary schools began the conversion in 2012, and have reorganized their picture books. Fall River, Lyons and Mead elementary schools have started the process, as well, but none has actually reorganized their books yet.

The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools that will open in the fall, Timberline K-8 in Longmont and Thunder Valley K-8 in Frederick, also will use the Buchter Classification System.

Just as Buchter created a framework for classifying elementary-level books, she made one for secondary schools, including both middle and high schools.

"It's easily customizable," Buchter said.

For the K-8 schools, she simply combined the elementary and secondary frameworks and modified a few sections. What is called the horror section in middle schools will be called scary, following the elementary model, Buchter said.

But school librarians have to do their day jobs as well, so conversions are taking a year or longer.

Platt, Mead Middle School's librarian, started reclassifying her school's fiction books at the beginning of the school year. The newly reorganized section opened in early March.

At Erie Middle, Monroe hopes to have the new fiction section ready in the fall, but nonfiction likely won't be set up until the 2014-15 school year, she said.

On Thursday evenings, librarians who are converting their libraries meet at Fall River Elementary to reclassify their books. They all start with fiction or, at elementary schools, picture books.

With a spreadsheet listing her school's collection, each librarian checks reviews of each title to decide in what genre -- such as mystery, adventure, sports or historical fiction -- the book belongs. For common titles, the librarians can see what others decided, but the libraries don't all have the same books.

Deciding how to classify a book can take one minute or 15, Buchter said.

Sandy LaFever, the librarian for Mead Elementary School, described herself as very meticulous. She categorized 20 books in two hours on March 14.

During the meeting, Candi Cloud of Erie Elementary -- where the picture books are already classified and reshelved -- and LaFever discussed "Desert Voices" by Byrd Baylor. Cloud said it should be in prose/poetry, but LaFever wanted it in environment.

After several minutes of discussion, LaFever said, "If it's prose and it tells a story, it should be in fiction." She then suggested the animals section.

Cloud concurred. "I could buy it on that one."

"The discussion makes it a little slower, but the discussion makes it better when you're on your own," LaFever said.

When each school finishes cataloging a section, Buchter approves it, but she's hoping to eventually create a steering committee to take on that task, she said.

"We're creating the standard here," Buchter said.

After the catalog is updated, books are pulled, relabeled and shelved in their new locations. Parent volunteers, teachers and administrators have been helping the librarians with these tasks.

It's not clear if all St. Vrain schools will move to the Buchter Classification System. Buchter isn't soliciting schools to convert, and librarians who are interested must get permission from their principals and area superintendents.

"This system seems to make more sense for St. Vrain right now," Buchter said.

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